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National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Chairman Philip Miscimarra, a Republican, has announced he will depart when his first term on the board expires Dec. 16; he declined to serve a second term. His departure will leave the board evenly split 2-2 among Democrats and Republicans, assuming that Republican nominee William Emanuel is confirmed in September.

Opposition to Micro-Bargaining Unit Opinion

Miscimarra also opposed the NLRB rulings allowing micro-bargaining units to be formed. For example, in its Macy's decision, the board held that a store's 41 cosmetic and fragrance employees constituted an appropriate bargaining unit. The employer had argued this was not an appropriate unit and that the smallest appropriate unit included sales employees in other departments of the store as well as stock and other support workers. In a dissent, Miscimarra argued that the majority's approval of the proposed unit disregarded similarities among all sales employees at the store and threatened to produce an unstable bargaining relationship by creating divisions in the workforce that are irreconcilable with the structure of the work setting. (Epstein Becker Green)